viernes, 30 de octubre de 2015

The people

Enrique, in his usual high spirits mood, was the first person to start this toastmaster special session.
Secondly, Jelena, our exquisite president, told us that in this session there would be an evaluation exercise. She also told us that the most important in toastmaster was its people. It made us feel proud!
Following this, Jorge, whose, role was toastmaster of the session explained to us the theme of the session, the timetable and the program of the session.
Amoldar was the chosen word for the session.
Jordi did a brilliant speech whose theme was: about your life...you decide. In his speech he talked about mountains which were his favourite place to be. He also managed to incorporate in his speech personal elements. He finished with one thing he found out: each one enjoys the life as one wants and that you can’t delegate your limits into other person.
The second speech of the night was told by Jelena with the title moments of true. Firstly Jelena told us what kind of true was going to be revelled. Following this, Jelena added that to see how successful the club was, we were going to do an evaluation exercise. This would allow us to see the good points and the points that we could improve. All toastmasters’ members and guests had to participate.
According to our president there are six critical moments of true. The following were: the first impression; membership orientation; fellowship, variety and communication; program planning and meeting organization; membership strength and last but not the least, achievement recognition.
The class was divided in six separate groups and each group had six standards to evaluate in 10 minutes. After finishing this exercise each group had to share the report with the rest of the audience. Each report had to include the standards the club currently met and the recommendations each group had for improvement or change.
When this workshop finished it was time for Rayane to evaluate Jordi’s speech. She remembered the audience its objectives. Then Rayane commented on the things that she enjoyed and after that she recommended her points of improvement. She concluded by saying that she liked the history because she herself could identified with it plus and she too likes mountains.
After Rayane left the stage it was time for Laia with a very accurate evaluation of the entire meeting, focusing in what went well and what could be improved for further sessions.
Our president gave the news that we were going to have a temporal solution for the next toastmaster session room. Her last message was that for her what was the most important in toastmaster were its people.
Our brilliant Sergeant of arms, Enrique, finished the session.





domingo, 25 de octubre de 2015

We all are superheroes!!


October, 21th

Last session, it was amazing!!  Discover all we have learned!!


Jelena, our astounding president, warmly welcomed us and the guests. 
Paul introduced the session talking about superheroes and he compared these heroes with our technical team and speakers.

Merce with "Paris, December 2015" talked about Climate change. Her speech was very well organized with an introduction, three points and a strong call to action. Her strong opening revealed the mystery of her speech's title with a question and then she gave us three practical advices for contributing to avoid the climate change.

Hugo talked about entertaining and technology, giving us a long list of examples from different resources.

Rayane explained why we have to call to a radio program when we have a broken-heart. Yes, It could seem quirky, but she really persuaded us with fantastic non-verbal communication, connecting with the audience thanks to different anecdotes, humour, singing... and with an awesome conclusion.

MA did a demonstration talk about mindfulness, with a strong opening, telling he is an addict to something that we also were: thinking. He also mentioned the speech of Jorge from last week, introducing spontaneity to his speech and at last, he guided a practical exercise for experimenting mindfulness.

About evaluations from Gerard, Oliver, Doriana and Catalina, we have learned about the importance of giving a motivational feedback, joking with the speakers and the importance of giving reasons and examples when we talked about the improvements.

Jorge introduced table topics about superheroes too, with enthusiasms and humour. Sandra, Isabel and Ambros accepted the challenge and their speech were well structure, funny and using emotional vocabulary for engaging the audience.

Enrique, Maria Luisa and Olga were the technical team and they clearly gave their rapports. Marc, as general evaluator, explained his opinion about the performance of the session justifying his reasons.


Next Wednesday, we will have a special session with a surprise. Don't miss it!!

By Laia






viernes, 23 de octubre de 2015

Nueva sede, nuevas aventuras!

En esta sesión estrenamos nuestra nueva sede, situada en la calle Santa  Anna de Barcelona. En el Centre d'Estudis Politècnics. Tuvimos 3 grandes discursos:

Jorge Egea nos deleitó con una técnica que se remonta a antes que Jesucristo perdiera sus zapatillas! Jorge habló de la técnica del Palacio de la Memoria, encuñada por el sabio Ciceron. Resultó un discurso del todo útil, pues pudimos aprender como memorizar conceptos al crear estructuras mentales.

Laia Arcones no pudo tener mejor manera de empezar su discurso. Empezó contratando al público. De hecho, contrató hasta su madre! El contenido del discurso fue bien interesante para todo el mundo dado que trataba sobre estrategias para encontrar trabajo, basadas en la creatividad y la diferenciación del individuo. Nos regaló frases como: si eres uno más, eres uno menos. De Laia siempre podemos aprender de su optimismo, pasión y el buen rollo que transmite .

Nacho Tellez empezó su discurso avanzado con una potente reflexión sobre como ha cambiado nuestras sociedades. Si hace unos siglos la dicotomía filosófica que reinaba por excelencia era "ser o no ser", actualmente esta ha evolucionado bastante: "comprar o no comprar". 

El discurso se desarrolló con un role play bien entretenido sobre la venda de un ordenador portátil.
De Nacho podemos aprender que con il·lusión, esfuerzo y sacrificio, podemos conseguir progresar en el public speaking hasta el infinito y más allá!

La parte de los discursos improvisados fué bien divertida, en los que se invocaron a Rajoy, Michael Jackson y Brad Pit 

Como es habitual en nuestras sesiones TMT, nos quedamos con ganas de más y más!

By Gerard






jueves, 8 de octubre de 2015

Change is the law of life

                As John F. Kennedy said, we cannot avoid change. But what it is more important is how you tackle the changes in your life. Do you embrace the change or you try to avoid it until it crosses the road in front of you?

            In our club when a chance of change arose -we are changing the location- the Toastmaster of the evening, Sandra Duarte, did not let this opportunity pass without making us reflect about how we deal with all the changes in our life. The message and the vibe of the night were clear and present throughout the whole session: change is good, change is progress!

                I will continue the changes by focusing on the content of the evening and not on the messages given by the attendees. In this way we can learn or refresh important leadership and communication skills.

            We are very grateful for being in an amazing place: Nauart. Here a sneak preview:

And now about our session of the night:

               Our technical team worked on their listening skills as grammarian (Camilla) and ah-counter (Beatriz) and time management skills when timer (Luisa). The rest of the participants improved their critical thinking by being evaluators (Rayane, Madalina and Jelena) and general evaluator (M.A.), toastmaster (Sandra), speaker (Julia, Olga and Oliver- prepared speeches; Catalina, Geo and Isabel for impromptu speeches) and table topics master (Laia). 

These being just some of the abilities gained by being an active participant, because each role can help you develop multiple abilities. For example, being a grammarian helps for your listening skills, critical thinking, giving feedback and time management.


              We had 3 speeches during the evening: Julia-project 4-how to say it and Olga and Oliver-project no 5- your body speaks. Thus, we learned about how to deliver a message clear, accurate and vivid with correct grammar, but also how to use the body language to express ourselves when speaking.  

With Julia we learned how important is to use visual aids, other more than a presentation, for example a yo-yo, domino, and candies. Also, she guided us through imagination in her own experience, thus connecting with the audience and she used repetition to support her message. 

Olga started with a question in order to relate to the audience, used a lot of metaphors and great humor. She had 3 points for the body of her speech and a very strong conclusion: Life your life as you run a marathon! 

Oliver, put us to raise our hands if we have the same situation as him, technique used in order to connect to the audience and draw their attention. He also had different roles that he played in his humorous speech that made it very entertaining. 

 

               The evaluations during the second part of the session were very instructive. One of the main techniques used is the sandwich technique: 2 or 3 good points followed by 2 or 3 points to improve. Also, it is important to remind the objectives of the projects and if they have been reached or not. 

 

               Laia presented the table topics and she started with giving us a very good structure for the speeches, because even if it is a 1 to 2 minutes speech it still should follow a stucture: into-anecdote, body-2 points, conclusion. 

 

               Least, but not last we had a great general evaluation, where we learned about how the grammar was used, how many extra sounds were in the speeches, our timing and  what was great plus things to be improved for future sessions. 

 

               Ribbons were offered and our president, Jelena shared with us her thoughts on change and how we are managing the challenges as a group. 

 

               All in all, a great session with very good vibes that put smiles on our faces and motivated us to keep improving our skills and also face the changes in our life with optimism. Change feels good!

By Georgiana

 




lunes, 5 de octubre de 2015

Welcome to the fabulous and lavish Toastmasters restaurant

Session: 09/09/2015
Olga, the restaurant manager, showed everyone around the magnificent place. Afterwards, the chief waiter Camilla took over and explained the delicious menu of the night, and invited everyone to use a Handkerchief throughout the night.

Before getting started with the meal, the customers were informed that a prestigious team of gastronomic evaluators were going to ensure that the night was spot on. The aforementioned team was managed by Gunther, just arrived from Prestigious Eaters, and formed by Jorge, who would pay attention at the pace and timing of the meal; Joan Marc, who would focus on the presentation of the dishes and the ingredients utilised; Hugo, who would scan the dishes for any vulgarity or repetition of ingredients used just to fill the dish up; and lastly Oliver, who would take pictures of the entire meal and write a report of its quality and success.

The starter was brought: A funny Marc with taste of dead bodies and two assholes. That dish made customers laugh.

After, the first main course arrived to the customer’s table: an oriental Maria Luisa, just arrived from China. It smelled to scorpions and tasted like a pigeon without head.
Later on, the second main course landed on the table: a horse-meat Marina, tasting like a child tale at the beginning, although at the end it turned out to be bitter and judgemental.

After the two main courses, Camilla came back. She called two of the customers: Marc and M.A.. They gave us their expert opinion about the main courses, how delightful they were and how could they be improved.

The chief waiter Camilla took over again in order to introduce the Confectionery Mistress of the restaurant, Beatriz, who had prepared mouth-watering desserts: Doriana, Teresa, Meritxell, Jordi and Javier. Their flavours and textures were so sweet and worthwhile.

Beatriz thanked the customers for trying and enjoying her creations, and called Camilla once again, who informed that the meal was over, and coming up there was the meal evaluation.

Gunther appeared with his team of experts, Hugo, Joan Marc and Jorge, who let customers know about the timing, the ingredients used and the redundant or unnecessary bits and bobs. Then, Gunther expounded his thorough meal evaluation so that the customers could learn besides eating.


Last, the restaurant manager Olga said that she hoped the customers had had a marvellous experience and she led them to the main entrance before closing the venue for that night. Her lasts words were: see you at the bar, guys!

By Oliver












El poder de la seducción

Podría decirse que en la pasada sesión de Toastmasters (30 de septiembre) nos sedujo a todos presentes.
¿Quién nos sedujo, cómo lo consiguió? Eh aquí la respuesta.

Todo empezó con Jelena, hablándonos de los cambios, de que la vida es un aprendizaje y que solo cambiando no solo aprendemos sino que también conseguimos seguir siendo nosotros mismos. ¿Sabéis esas conversaciones que seducen? Sí, sí, las que te pierdes en las palabras de esa persona y te dejan con esa sensación de querer saber más, pues eso es lo que consiguió nuestra presidenta, consiguió que nos quedásemos allí, quietos, pensando.

Luego Jorge Egea como Toastmaster de la noche nos presentó el tema de la noche, la SEDUCCIÓN, y, ¡de qué manera! Llevó la sesión de una manera estupenda y no dejó indiferente a nadie.
Y con la presentación de un gran equipo técnico: Marc Majoral como cronometrador; Laia Arcones como gramática y con la palabra del día “arrumaco”; y Maria Luisa Gomez como contadora de muletillas, empezamos con los discursos preparados.

Jordi Varela con su 5# discurso del manual de comunicación competente titulado “Magia”. Nos habló de la magia de la observación. De cómo observando podemos decidir cuál es el momento indicado para PAM actuar.

Teresa Rubinat quien realizó un discurso diferente, presentándonos un nuevo espacio dedicado a los Toastmasters que quieran comprometerse a no solo realizar discursos frente a una audiencia sino también ser capaz de evaluar cada discurso, es decir, que cada discurso será evaluado por tantos oyentes haya en la sala. Una nueva iniciativa que empieza el 13 de octubre en la Casa Orlandai Sarria a las 19:45. Estoy segura que no os lo vais a querer perder, y solo hace falta una cosa: compromiso de dar lo mejor.

Por último tuvimos el #10 discurso de Ramon Matabosch. Con su “El primer día del resto de mi vida”, su misión era inspirarnos y desde luego lo consiguió. Hablándonos no solo de la conjunción de elementos que definían el trabajo ideal sino de lo que pasó el mayo del 93’ cuando decidió alejarse del mundo de la banca para dedicarse a algo:

1.      Que le motivara
2.      Por lo que recibiera reconocimiento
3.      Con una retribución digna
4.      Conforme a sus valores y con una base ética

Lo que consiguió Ramon con su discurso fue que reflexionáramos sobre como queremos vivir nuestra vida y que si alguna vez creemos que hemos perdido nuestro rumbo leyéramos, que podríamos leer cualquier cosa que quisiésemos pero él nos recomendó estos libros, los libros que le cambiaron la vida.

1.      El mundo del ayer. Memorias de un europeo – Stefan Zweig
2.      Los ensayos – Michel de Montaigne
3.      Narayama – Shichiró Fukazawa
4.      Texaco – Patrick Chamoiseau
5.      Viajes con Heródoto – Ryszard Kapuscinski
6.      Y el poema Itaca – Kavafis
                                        Yo ya los tengo como pendientes, ¿y tú?

Después de este intenso discurso tuvimos los discursos improvisados a mano de Enrique Álvarez. Lo podría resumir con CHAPÓ. Por como introdujo el tema, ¿adivinad cuál? SEDUCCIÓN, por como explicó las normas de los discursos improvisados, fusionando las instrucciones con las historias de las cuales tenían que salir los fantásticos discursos que salieron. Magnifico.

Todo pero no fue fantástico esa noche, ohhhh L Joan Marc nos informó que se despedía del club por un tiempo, pero no os pongáis tristes. Palabras textuales “no es un adiós es un hasta luego”. De todas formas, gracias Joan Marc por darnos la oportunidad de conocerte, de disfrutar de tus discursos, de tu participación activa en las sesiones y de tu persona (yo ya sé que he estado por poco tiempo, pero estoy segura que todos y cada miembro del club piensa así).
                    De parte de todo el club MUCHAS GRACIAS Y HASTA PRONTO

Pero no todo acabó aquí, ¿os acordáis de que os he dicho que Jelena nos tenía una noticia? ¡Pues es el momento de desvelarla!
                                         ¡NOS MUDAMOS!

         Próxima sesión en CALLE ESPRONCEDA 154 EN POBLENOU – NauArt

Para llegar:
L4 Poble Nou (aunque igual mejor Selva de Mar)
L1 Glories (aunque igual tenéis que andar un poco, a modo de recomendación)
L2 Bac de Roda
Tram T4 – Pere IV; T5 – Espronceda

H12- Bilbao o Bac de roda

By Julia